Here’s what I love in life: You want something, you get it, and it turns out better than you imagined.
When I daydreamed about all the good reasons to return to the classroom, at the top of the list was the opportunity to become really good at the station rotation model. This is my own little passion project, and I am so darn lucky to have the chance to implement this structure with students. I’ve run weekly station rotations for six weeks now, and the biggest surprise has been how effective this structure is for responding quickly to students’ academic needs.
I’ll continue to wax poetic on station rotation for as long as I’m teaching, but so far, the most compelling element is how well this model streamlines quick, small-group interventions for students.
(I’ve stolen ideas from relied heavily on Dr. Catlin Tucker to build my capacity. Check out her work here: https://catlintucker.com/2021/10/station-rotation-model/)
Nuts and bolts:
Mondays and Tuesdays are short periods, and those days are for mini-lessons.
Wednesdays and Thursdays are block periods, so those are station rotation days. The 90-minute period allows for rotations every 18 minutes or so.
Stations are designed as opportunities to apply skills and ideas from the mini-lessons.
Here’s how I arrange groups:
Each of the four groups is about eight students.
I created a quadrant template that I update every week to assign students to their starting point in the rotation.
On Tuesday afternoons, I review who is missing assignments, with a focus on practice tasks from Monday and Tuesday. (I will also go back and see who is missing earlier assignments, especially those that impact their grades.)
Station 1 is designated as the Make Up Station, and I group kids based on missing assignments. They start in this station.
Once the class is up and running, I spend most of my time monitoring this group in this rotation. This gives me time to answer questions, determine points of confusion, and say “do this right now” and then stare at a kid/kids until they do it.
Students who have completed all tasks and are showing mastery for that week start in Station 2. They end up in Station 1 on the last rotation, and that allows for an enrichment or challenge activity for these excelling students. Or simply 18 minutes to chill out and chat.
This quick intervention has been the big payoff so far. Also, the student who walked into my class on a block day and said, “I’m ready for station rotation!”
There’s so much more … stay tuned!
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